Echo of Basho - Haiku Voices of the Caribbean

Poetry & Photography

by Alex de Verteuil & Dawn Glaisher

ISBN 978-976-8211-19-4

First book by collaborating authors Alex de Verteuil and Dawn Glaisher who have contributed equally their poems and photographs to create this beautiful gift book of Japanese-style haiku poetry illustrated by their photos of Trinidad and Tobago where they both live.  The book includes a brief introduction to the Japanese poetic form of  haiku, a foreword by Pat Bishop, local patron of the arts , and an after-reading by Susan Bassnett, the internationally-renowned Professor of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick, UK.

The two elements of poem and image have been laid side by side on separate pages and then merged creatively by flipping the image and fading it to a watermark under the text so that the two pages then become linked - but without  either spoiling the image or compromising the readability of the poem. 

 

There are 100 haiku in the collection but the authors have chosen not to attribute authorship, but rather allow their two voices to merge within the chapters.  In traditional haiku fashion, the first two chapters of the book are concerned with the seasons, of which there are only two in the Caribbean, and then the final chapter Looking In represents a journey from the surface inwards, towards the more introspective poems.

night sky darkening

across the water

the Northern Range disappears

 

sunset: for the first and last time

the yellow orb of hibiscus

furls

 

cicadas announce

the end of the dry season

a dusty sky waits

 

 

 

Alex and Dawn have been published together in the Armour of the Ridiculous (2006 Lexicon Trinidad Ltd), an anthology of contemporary Trinidad poets, and Alex is currently writing poems for a larger collaborative work with Sarah Becket which will blend art with live music and poetry in audio-visual form.  Echo of Basho is Dawn and Alex's first private collection of poems and their own company Chickichong Publishing did the design and pre-press work.

Alex de Verteuil, born in Trinidad in 1942, is a respected producer of highly acclaimed documentary films and he has been writing poetry ever since he can remember.  Dawn Glaisher,  born in Trinidad in 1946, is an established real estate broker in Tobago who would prefer to be taking photos, writing and practising tai chi.

Book size 6 inches by 6 inches, hard cover, 110 pages with 100 haiku and 46 full colour photographs.

To order; email seajade@tstt.net.tt or call (868) 631-5233 or (868) 639-6636 for details of cost and method of payment.